Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas Pharma joins $45m series A funding for Mitokyne, a US biotech focused on discovering drugs to treat mitochondria-related diseases, as well as signing R&D collaboration agreement with option to acquire.
Month: October 2013
Recruit millennial oomph
October is a time to think and convince. It is a time to have an impact. It is a time to be bold and audacious. It is a time to inject some oomph into your business. How is this related to alternative investments? I am taking the word alternative to a different dimension – organisational and cultural. I am… Continue reading Recruit millennial oomph
Innovative region: New York
New York is walking tall in technology once again, it was evident, in a trip to New York last month. This year the city secured its latest banner transaction, with micro-blogging website Tumblr, selling to US-based search engine Yahoo for $990m. Rich Nelson, of Nielsen, said: “The Yahoo acquisition of Tumblr reinvigorated both the entrepreneurial community as well as the… Continue reading Innovative region: New York
Tokuyama leads 1366 Technologies’ C round
1366 Technologies, a US-based manufacturer of silicon wafers as used in solar cells, has secured $15m in series C funding led by Tokuyama Corporation, Japan’s largest producer of ultra-pure silicon and a strategic partner of 1366’s, joined by returning investors including Energy Technology Ventures (a joint venture involving General Electric, NRG Energy and ConocoPhillips) and… Continue reading Tokuyama leads 1366 Technologies’ C round
Pfizer and Roche back Biodesy
Biotechnology company Biodesy raises $15m series A funding led by 5AM Ventures and including Pfizer Venture Investments and Roche Venture Fund, to develop and commercialize its technology for real-time measurement of changes in protein structure.
Refinery29 scales up with $20m
Refinery29, a US-based fashion, lifestyle and shopping website, has raised $20m in a series C round of funding from growth equity firm Stripes Group, The C funding brings Refinery29’s total funding since inception to $30.4m. Prior to this round, the company raised $5.6m in a series B round in January 2013 from media group Hearst… Continue reading Refinery29 scales up with $20m
Comcast reaches for SundaySky
SundaySky, a US-based marketing and advertising technology company which creates personalised videos – “SmartVideos” – to acquire and engage customers, has raised $20 million in a series C investment round led by Comcast Ventures, the venture capital affiliate of cable television company Comcast Corporation. Liberty Global Ventures, the corporate venturing division of cable company Liberty Global, and Israel-based investment… Continue reading Comcast reaches for SundaySky
Collective knowledge for a high social impact
On November 26 and 27, 400 players from the venture philanthropy and social investment sector gather once more for the EVPA annual conference. Now in its ninth year, EVPA heads to Geneva, Switzerland, for its 2013 conference. The rest of this article is in our October issue PDF.
Gaule’s Question Time: Chris Wade
Andrew Gaule speaks with Chris Wade, director of the VC unit at UK Trade & Investment.
Back to basics: energy and natural resources
Our monthly sector feature looks at the energy and natural resources sector.
Recruit millennial oomph
Go global, recruiting young graduates from emerging economies. Cognitive diversity, cultural diversity and business diversity are the names of the game. If you do a good job, you will have them talking about your company on their social network, and no doubt in a couple of years you will be cherrypicking the top of the crop while your strategic plan will be addressed with fresh and current ideas.
Naspers rebalances board towards MIH
Naspers, a South Africa-based media and e-commerce company, has made several changes to its board: Lourens Jonker, Neil van Heerden and Prof Hein Willemse have stepped down, while Craig Enenstein, Don Eriksson, Roberto Oliveira de Lima, Yuanhe Ma and Cobus Stofberg, most of whom have previously served on the board of Naspers’ subsidiary MIH, have… Continue reading Naspers rebalances board towards MIH
Citi backs M-DAQ’s world without currency borders
M-DAQ, a Singapore-based financial technology company which provides a foreign exchange (FX) platform for investors to trade foreign currency denominated securities in their local currency, has raised S$14.5m ($11.7m) in series B funding led by China-focused venture capital firm GSR Ventures and Citi Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of US financial services company Citi. M-DAQ… Continue reading Citi backs M-DAQ’s world without currency borders
University awards celebrated
Inaugural and sold-out Global University Venturing Summit and Awards celebration.